Earlier, Asian markets, which mostly finished trading ahead of the us GDP announcement, fell heavily again on the news the U.S. central bank further reduced its quantitative easing (QE) stimulus overnight.

In currencies, the emerging market economies hurt most by the turmoil, Russia's ruble, the South African rand, Turkey's lira, Brazil's real and the Indian rupee were all either flat or stronger, even as the dollar itself surged against other major currencies.